Pacifier with collapsible shield



Jan. 16, 1968 c. F. HINES PACIFIER WITH COLLAPSIBLE SHIELD Filed May 7,1965 INVENTOR CHARLES F. HINES BY 5 HAL Z2444? 1,

ATTORNEY United States Patent 3,363,630 PACIFIER WITH COLLAPSIBLE SHIELDCharles F. Hines, Rte. 6, Box 70, Richmond, Va. 23231 Filed lVIay 7,1965, Ser. No. 453,988 Claims. (Cl. 128-360) ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSUREThis disclosure describes a baby pacifier having a collapsible shieldadapted to protect the nipple from dirt. In use in the babys mouth theshield is adapted to collapse around the base of the nipple and toimmediately cover the nipple upon withdrawal from the babys mouth.

This invention relates to an infant pacifier, and particularly to apacifier having a novel protective shield adapted to prevent nipplecontact with foreign, unsanitary objects.

It is therefore the principal object of this invention to provide anovel infant pacifier having a resilient shield surrounding the nippleto protect it from contamination, as for example when the pacifier isdropped from the infants mouth. Other objects and advantages of thisinvention will become apparent from the following description of thebest mode of carrying out this invention taken in connection with theaccompanying drawing wherein:

FIGURE 1 is a side elevation view showing a pacifier constructed inaccordance with this invention;

FIGURE 2 is a view similar to FIGURE 1 but showing the nipple shield inits extended position;

FIGURE 3 is a front elevation of the pacifier shown in FIGURES 1 and 2;and

FIGURE 4 is a view similar to FIGURE 1 of a modified pacifier.

Referring now to the drawing, the preferred embodiment of this inventionis shown in FIGURES l, 2 and 3,

and is comprised of a nipple it) having a conventional handle or ring14, and a collapsible shield 20. This shield is preferably attached toor made integral with, disc 22 fixed to the small end of nipple 10. Thusas shown in FIGURES l and 2, ring 14 is secured in the small end ofnipple 1t) and holds disc 22 in place. This construction is notimportant to the present invention except to the extent that shield 20be secured in place around nipple and at or near the small end thereof.On the large diameter end of shield 20 is a face plate 24 having acentral opening 28 therein through which nipple 10 passes as the shieldis collapsed or extended.

The shield may be of any suitable resilient material, preferably softresilient rubber, and is shown in its normal position in FIGURE 2 whenno external forces are applied thereto. In use, nipple 10 may be pushedthrough opening 28 and placed in the infants mouth. As the infant suckson the nipple, shield 20 will be partially or completely collapsed asshown in FIGURE 1; however, should the nipple slip out of the infantsmouth, it is immediately covered by the shield springing back into itsnormal, FIGURE 2, position. Thus the nipple is protected from contactingthe ground, floor, etc., wherever the nipple may fall, therebypreventing the wet nipple from picking up dirt particles.

Although face plate 24 is not essential to this invention, it is anelement of the preferred embodiment. In the collapsed position plate 24serves as a guard limiting the nipple length that may enter the infantsmouth, It also enables shield 20 to be more positively collapsed.

A rim 30 located around the perimeter of face plate 24 is adapted tospace the plate from the floor and thereby prevent the plate frompicking up dirt and transferring it to the infants face. Rim 30 is ofsufficient diameter 3,363,536 Patented Jan. 16, 1968 "ice that only asmall portion thereof will contact the infants face, and since it doesnot normally become wet during use, will not pick up dirt in the firstplace.

The shape of shield 20 as shown is preferably conical and collapsible ina bellows-like fashion; however, any suitable shape permitting theresilient shield to normally cover the nipple is intended to beencompassed by the present invention.

Shield 20 is preferably removably secured to the rear of face plate 24by means of mounting brackets 32 which are spaced equidistantly aroundthe back edge of plate 24. The sides of resilient shield 20 may 'besqueezed together and easily placed behind brackets 32, and permitted toexpand into place. Four to six such brackets, evenly spaced, ispreferred. Of course, if desired, shield 20 can be glued or otherwisefixed to plate 24. A removable shield 20 permits access to the nippleshould it be desired to scrub it, or gain access to the interior ofshield 20 if thorough cleaning on the inside should be desirable.

Another advantage of the present invention resides in the ability ofresilient shield 20 and face plate 24 to retract nipple 10 from theinfants mouth when suction subsides as the infant falls asleep. Thisprevents the nipple from remaining in the infants mouth continuouslyduring sleep, thereby eventually making the infant less dependent on thepacifier and more adaptable to discontinuing its use when desirable.

A second embodiment is shown in FIGURE 4 wherein face plate 44 isconstructed to be concave toward the infants face, thereby providing asupporting rim on the perimeter thereof similar to rim 30 shown inFIGURES 1 and 2. The primary advantage of the FIGURE 4 device is that itwould be more economical to manufacture without loss of any functionalfeature.

In addition to rim 30, or the concave surface of plate 44, tabs orsupport legs could be substituted in lieu thereof to support the platefrom the ground.

The present invention may be embodied in other spefic forms Withoutdeparting from the central characteristics thereof. The presentinvention is therefore to be considered in all respects as illustrativeand not restrictive, the scope of the invention being indicated by theappended claims rather than by the foregoing description. All thechanges that come within the meaning and range of the equivalency of theclaims are therefore intended to be embraced therein.

What is claimed and desired to be secured by Letters Patent is asfollows:

1. A baby pacifier comprising a nipple one end of which is adapted to beintroduced into the mouth of a baby and the other end constituting abase for handling, and a shield member attached at one end thereof tothe base end of and disposed about said nipple, said shield being offlexible, resilient material and being open at its other end; saidshield extending over said one end of said nipple and being adapted tocollapse about the base end of said nipple as the nipple is introducedinto the mouth of a baby through the open end of said shield, and torebound to cover the nipple upon Withdrawal from the babys mouth.

2. A baby pacifier comprised of a nipple having a base end for handlingand a free end adapted to be introduced into a babys mouth, and aprotective shield normally disposed about and extending over the freeend of said nipple, said shield being of resilient, collapsible materialengaged at the base end of said nipple and having an opening in theother end whereby said shield may collapse around said nipple as it isintroduced into a babys mouth and return to its original position uponwithdrawal therefrom.

3. A pacifier as defined in claim 2 further comprising 3 4- a face.plate attached to the other end of said shield and R fer Cit d havingan opening therein through which said nipple UNITED STATES PATENTS maypass as said sl'neld IS collapsed.

4. A pacifier as defined in claim 3 further comprising 216287912 2/1953Horan 123-252 X means on said face plate extending away from said shield5 3,301,423 1/1967 Soto to support said face plate. FOREIGN PATENTS 5. Apacifier as defined in claim 3 wherein said face 261,502 8/1949 S it 1 dplate is provided with means for detachably fixing said shield thereto.DALTON L. TRULUCK, Primavy Examiner.

